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Saturday, May 19, 2012

sight

When I was 8 years old, a bat took up residence in my bedroom for three nights or so. It would fly around in circles, doing laps around my room at night. Of course, when I would dash out and summon my dad, we would return only to find nothing out of the ordinary, with my dad thinking I'd dreamt the whole thing.

It was my mom who put me back in with the sane.

"I was cleaning in Abby's room, and I found.... droppings".

THANK YOU, MOM!!

That night, my bat friend made its existence known to everyone in the house. AHA! I wasn't nuts! My dad caught it in a paper sack and set it free. I don't know who was happier it was out, me or the bat.

And I appreciate bats. As icky as they are, they help clean up other icky things, using echolocation to "see" because they're just cool that way. I think I formed some sort of odd kinship with them from those three creep-filled, sleepless nights.

So, for this week's Illustration Friday prompt "sight", I dedicate it to my bat friend from all those years ago.

14 comments:

Never let 'em call you batty. Sleeping with a bat in the same room, I would imagine you didn't get much sleep. Nothing like a true life monster under the bed to give you the willies for years.

Bats have gotten a bum rap and nowadays people are encouraging them to nest around their house to supposedly eat mosquito and other small insects. Up in Austin, there is a colony of Mexican Freetail bats that have nested under the Congress Avenue Bridge that make their nocturnal migration every night at dusk to go out and eat all the bugs. There is a regular gathering to watch the bats emerge every night during the summer months.

Here in Colorado, we are just at the end of a bumper crop of miller moths. They've been everywhere - whole clouds of them, and yes, it had us considering building a bat house. If I were in Austin, I'd like to go watch the Mexican Freetail bats!

I've always wanted one of those--I've always loved them, you were fortunate to have Bruce, even just for a few days!

I read a story in an animal true storybook once called, "The White Lady". This man had a female, albino bat which he raised from infancy. And she would fly around his house, freely--I think she eventually died of old age. The most incredible thing I remember is this: He had an electric fan--one of those small, old, fans with the wires over the blades. And this bat was so fast that she would frequently fly through the running fan, back and forth, without a scratch!

I've often thought of putting a bat house in our yard to help keep the bugs down, but they kinda freak me out. The thought of having one in my house gives me chills. Impressive that your dad was able to catch him in a paper bag?? Oh yeah, great picture too! :)

I felt "almost" the same about my step-dad when he caught the feral cat (a new mother at that, trying to protect her babies) as it leapt from the floor to the table to the dining room chandelier. Dad was dressed in a garment like garbage men used to wear, garden gloves, a scull cap, and goggles.. and it was still scary for him. The cat's claws were like little swords. We still laugh about it.